Translation

I am a careful and meticulous editor for writing in translation. I was the editor of PEN America’s Glossolalia, dedicated to publishing writing from underrepresented languages around the world. I made sure that each piece maintained the necessary register in English and took into consideration the culture and intonations of regional speech. The highlight was working with Brazil’s star reporter on the Amazonian people, Eliane Brum. I wrote a book proposal for Eliane and sold it to Graywolf Press. Her book was longlisted for the National Book Foundation prize.

Translation is a complex and beautiful art. Precision and imagination are equally critical in rendering a text properly into English. I love working closely with translators to understand their approach to translation, their decision-making process, and their solutions to common problems, such as phrasing, repetition, tone, and style. I’m good at recognizing when a translation is working and when it is not—and have recommended books for structural work when the translator has not yet found the right idiom or form in English. For Words Without Borders, I edited the writers Marilyn Hacker, Eric M.B. Becker, John Keene, and many others, across genres. I have translated poems from Latin, Italian, and Crimean Tatar. I’ve worked extensively on a vivid new translation of the Old English poem Beowulf, with deep attention to the way the commentary offers a radical approach to understanding the poem’s significance.

My fee is $175 per hour. It includes two major editorial passes with developmental and line editing, translator queries and replies, revisions or tweaks. Please contact me to discuss what you need.